Atlanta United 2025 season staff and community predictions

The wait is almost over! Atlanta United’s 2025 season opener against CF Montreal at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a mere eight days away on Feb. 22.

Coming off a roller coaster of a season in 2024, the Five Stripes have had arguably the most significant offseason in Major League Soccer with a new chief soccer officer, head coach and over $30 million spent on two designated players. With the business side of things seemingly wrapped up, it’s now time to see it all come together on grass (or turf).

Normally around this time, we give y’all our Atlanta United predictions for the year, and we’re going to do it again…

This year we’re adding a twist! We asked Y’ALL for help! That’s right, we’re going to give you our staff’s predictions along with the data we collected from the Google Form sent out about a week ago. Thanks to everyone who responded!

So let’s dive into all of the predictions which we’ll revisit in December and think either, “Man, I’m a genius” or “How many gummies was I on when I wrote this?”

Supporters’ Shield

Sydney: 5th

Tommy: 4th

Tyler: 1st

Grey: 4th

Henry: 4th

Jackson: 4th

Community Predictions: 3rd

Vote Breakdown:

The Five Stripes have improved a lot this offseason, so they should be able to compete for some of the top spots in the league. Because the Eastern Conference is shaping up to be a bloodbath once again this season, it’s reasonable to assume that Atlanta performing well in the East will mean a high spot in the Shield standings.

Eastern Conference

Sydney: 3rd

Tommy: 2nd

Tyler: 1st

Grey: 3rd

Henry: 3rd

Jackson: 2nd

Community Predictions: 2nd

Vote Breakdown:

Atlanta has poured a lot of money into bolstering its roster this offseason, so they should finish among the top teams in the conference. However, the East is absolutely stacked. Cincinnati has the second most expensive striker in the league combined with an elite chance creator in Evander, Charlotte has built a formidable attack, and Miami still has Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

The Five Stripes should still be competitive and this should be the year they finally achieve their goal of hosting in the playoffs as the higher seed.

MLS Cup Playoffs

Sydney: MLS Cup Runner Up

Tommy: MLS Cup Champion

Tyler: MLS Cup Champion

Grey: Eastern Conference Final

Henry: MLS Cup Champion

Jackson: Eastern Conference Final

Community Predictions: Eastern Conference Final

Vote Breakdown:

Is Atlanta United back? That is the question. The answer, if you ask three of us, is HELL YEAH!!

While our predictions are a bit varied on this one, we can all agree that the Five Stripes should make a deeper run in the Playoffs this season. After all, if Atlanta was able to beat Inter Miami and F.E.A. its way into the Eastern Conference Semifinal in 2024, is it too much of a stretch to believe they can go all the way in 2025?

Leagues Cup

Sydney: Semifinal

Tommy: Quarter Final

Tyler: Quarter Final

Grey: Quarter Final

Henry: Phase One

Jackson: Quarter Final

Community Predictions: Quarter Final

Vote Breakdown:

Whether you love Leagues Cup or despise it, it’s still a competition that could be significant for Atlanta United this season if it makes a deep run. Remember, the top three teams qualify for next year’s Concacaf Champions Cup.

Unfortunately, none of us are really optimistic about the Five Stripes making a deep run in this tournament. The club has never made it past the first phase and now it is much harder to progress to the knockout stage. Add to that the fact that the regular season will not pause for Leagues Cup this time around, so the team will have to choose wisely where it puts its strongest lineup. It’s hard to see the club prioritizing Leagues Cup over the regular season unless the team somehow makes it into the quarterfinals or semifinals.

Top goalscorer

Sydney: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 21 goals, 5 assists

Tommy: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 19 goals, 4 assists

Tyler: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 21 goals, 6 assists

Grey: Miguel Almiron – 14 goals, 10 assists

Henry: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 21 goals, 4 assists

Jackson: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 17 goals, 4 assists

Community Predictions: Emmanuel Latte Lath

Vote Breakdown:

When you smash the MLS transfer record by more than $6 million for a striker, you have to expect big things from him.

Emmanuel Latte Lath was brought in to spearhead an Atlanta United attack that is all about speed, and boy is this guy FAST. With his goalscoring prowess and the support from a host of talented players whose attributes complement him very well, we can expect a significant goalscoring tally from him.

Top assister

Sydney: Alexey Miranchuk – 10 goals, 15 assists

Tommy: Miguel Almiron – 8 goals, 13 assists

Tyler: Miguel Almiron – 12 goals, 15 assists

Grey: Mateusz Klich – 3 goals, 12 assists

Henry: Alexey Miranchuk – 7 goals, 15 assists

Jackson: Alexey Miranchuk – 7 goals, 14 assists

Community Predictions: Miguel Almiron

Here we have an interesting split for the team’s top assister in 2025. Most people picked either Miguel Almiron or Alexey Miranchuk, which makes sense given the roles they have filled for the Five Stripes in the past. Almiron is Atlanta’s original No. 10, a two-time MLS MVP finalist and a very skilled chance creator who is back after six years of European experience with Newcastle United. On paper, he seems set to occupy the right wing slot, but he’s been playing much more centrally in preseason with Ronny Deila allowing him the freedom to float around positionally.

On the other hand, Alexey Miranchuk is the guy that Atlanta United brought in last summer to be the No. 10. He didn’t exactly live up to his $13 million billing in 2024, but now he has more quality around him that will accentuate his best attributes. Miranchuk is a through ball artist, something that works really well when you have fast attackers. It just so happens that the club brought in two designated players who are VERY fast. With more options for him in the final third and a full preseason with the team, the Russian midfielder should be in for a big 2025.

MVP

Sydney: Emmanuel Latte Lath

Tommy: Emmanuel Latte Lath

Tyler: Miguel Almiron

Grey: Miguel Almiron

Henry: Emmanuel Latte Lath

Jackson: Mateusz Klich

Community Predictions: Miguel Almiron

Vote Breakdown:

Atlanta United’s two big additions are the ones that will be expected to significantly improve the team. Latte Lath is the record-breaking signing that will be expected to bag a bunch of goals to justify his opulent price tag. Almiron is that nostalgic piece of that 2018 championship team that has come back for more. What better way to end the storybook return season than to be the team’s MVP in 2025?

Most improved player

Sydney: Xande Silva

Tommy: Saba Lobjanidze

Tyler: Bartosz Slisz

Grey: Luke Brennan

Henry: Noah Cobb

Jackson: Edwin Mosquera

Community Predictions: Bartosz Slisz

Yeah, we were all over the place on this one.

Bartosz Slisz got the most shouts from the community, so we’ll focus on him. Slisz entered with the perhaps unfair expectation that he would be the long-awaited “Nagbe replacement.” He did not quite live up to that tag in 2024, but he showed an encouragingly competitive spirit and love for the badge. In 2025, he’s going to be the more defensive midfielder in a double-pivot with his more veteran compatriot Mateusz Klich. With the added quality around him and a year of MLS experience under his belt, this could be the year we see Bartosz Slisz reach the next level.

Let’s get crazy

This is a space for those bold predictions! Here are some of the highlights from what y’all came up with.

Sydney: Miguel Almiron scores a hat trick on his debut with Atlanta

Tommy: Guzan doesn’t finish the season as…..just kidding. Not doing that again. I see Atlanta setting a record for points won on the road.

Tyler: Miggy’s jersey becomes a top-three seller to go along with the fact he’s a top-three winger. Also, Brad Guzan retires with a victory cigar in his mouth moments after hoisting another MLS Cup…and then becomes another goalkeeping coach.

Grey: Dominik Chong Qui will score against Inter Miami, Ronan Wynne will start at least 5 matches, Jamal Thiare will somehow add a more exciting goal to his highlight reel than the sneak attack game-winner from last season, Brad Guzan will have his best season as a goalkeeper and will begin negotiating a contract extension by midseason Atlanta United will have its best-ever season scoring from set pieces, and The Peachtree Press will lead to multiple matches where Atlanta is playing up at least two men on the field.

Henry: Miggy hat trick against Charlotte. ATL will have at least three players in the MLS Best XI at the end of the year and in the All-Star roster.

Jackson: Edwin Mosquera and Miguel Almiron bond over a mutual love for Dragon Ball Z, and strike up an on-the-field partnership as well (see most improved). What they don’t expect, though, is for the entire team to become hooked on the series- even Ronny Deila, whose practice sessions and tactics draw from his binge-watching of the show. This leads to Atlanta United going on a 15-match win streak, tying the league record.

Community Predictions:

“Atlanta will go unbeaten for the first 3 months of the season.”

“Over the summer Lennon is traded to another team in the west for allocation money that gives us the room to bring back Julian Gressel after he falls out of favor in Miami.”

“We have the most goals in a single season for a club in MLS.”

“Ronald Hernandez starts more games for Atlanta United than Brooks Lennon by the end of the season.”

“Tommy will shave his beard at some point this season.”

“Guzan with 8+ clean sheets.”

“Repeat that 10:30pm San Jose game on a Wednesday where we were losing 4-2 then won 4-3. Some crazy VAR script flip.”

What do you think of these predictions? Let us know and drop some of your own predictions in the comments below!

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